


A Kingdom

by missdibley



Series: The Red Nose Diaries [110]
Category: British Actor RPF, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: 38 lifetimes, 38 lifetimes fic, AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, fairy tale AU, the red nose diaries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 01:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18326309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missdibley/pseuds/missdibley
Summary: Carmen lives happily with her father and her books and her seagulls. Until one day she is called to court to vie for the affections of the Crown Prince.





	A Kingdom

The wedding is in three days’ time.

Prospective brides hoping to capture the prince’s hand (and, perhaps in time, his heart) have been arriving at the palace since daybreak. They all bear engraved invitations from the Lord Chamberlain, whose duty it is to orchestrate this elaborate affair on behalf of the king and queen.

The ladies are the daughters, nieces, or wards of the kingdom’s nobility. A few are technically commoners, but hail from wealthy merchant families with important overseas connections.

Each candidate arrives with trunks full of gowns and shoes and jewelry, fans and parasols and shawls. They are accompanied by personal retinues who are experts at styling hair and applying rouge and powder. They have all been primed and primped for this moment.

They are all ready, eager, and willing to become a princess.

All except one.

Lady Carmen was the only daughter of the widower Lord Xavier DiGregorio. Father and daughter lived quietly, but happily, in a seaside village founded by his forebears. The fishing was good, and on Wednesdays the bookseller came so that Carmen could buy as many romance novels as could fit in her fishing basket. At night, cool ocean breezes soothed one and all to sleep. Their estate and holdings were modest, so much so that the arrival of the Lord Chamberlain’s invitation came as a surprise.

Carmen pored over the thing while gulping down her usual breakfast of poached duck eggs, smoked salmon, and fried bread. She showed it to her father who, in his wisdom, reasoned that their village’s proximity to larger ports that did considerable business abroad must have been a factor.

“That,” said Lord Xavier, his brown eyes twinkling merrily as he tucked into his own breakfast of lobster bisque, “Or the Prince is a great admirer of your prodigious appetite for smoked fish and fanciful love stories.”

Carmen swore at him under her breath, even as she bestowed a kiss upon his bald pate before hurrying up to her cozy bedroom to pack her trunk. She promised to be back as soon as the prince had decided upon a lady who didn’t stay up late reading novels and most definitely did not smell like salmon.

She brings no one but Ole Golly, the cranky fishwife who cared for her as an infant after her mother died in childbirth. For the occasion, Ole Golly wears her finest hat — a taxidermied seagull that appalls the palace footmen and makes one of the weaker would-be princesses faint.

The first night of the visit/competition, the young ladies are introduced to court at a ball held in their honor. They each take a turn around the floor, smiling and curtseying as the Lord Chamberlain reads to the crowd the list of accomplishments that merited their invitation, the perceived eligibility for the prince’s hand. It is often said that the prince hides among the guests, observing them from afar before the formal introductions the following day.

The ladies are duly impressive and beautiful, talented in many ways. Lady Sylvia of Huntley can speak six languages. Ariadne, Duchess of Toledo, sings like a bell.

“Lady Carmen DiGregorio, has read over one hundred romance novels,” the Lord Chamberlain sputtered. Carmen, who was in a very low bow to the dais upon which the king and queen were sat, smirked into her skirt. She repressed a laugh, and was the picture of innocence as she rose to her feet. She caught the Lord Chamberlain’s eye, then continued to move about the room.

“Lady Carmen consumes almost her entire body weight in smoked fish every year?” The Lord Chamberlain paled, his lips flapping when the crowd began to titter. Several of the other girls hissed at Carmen, insulted that she would provide a list of accomplishments that would seem to insult their hosts. She stuck her tongue out at them and simply carried on.

The Lord Chamberlain wisely cut short her introduction, and the rest of the girls were brought forth for the crowd’s inspection. Carmen, relieved of the spotlight, asked Ole Golly to make her apologies for her. Slipping away, she searched the palace for the library.

It was the library, the largest and most varied in the kingdom, that she truly wanted to see. Her friend the bookseller had told her of it on previous visits, telling tales of its wonder. And he had not exaggerated. Not one bit. Carmen found a torch and set to work, borrowing as many volumes as she could fit under her skirt (where Ole Golly had thoughtfully sewn in a great many pockets), and leaving notes promising their return via the bookseller. She went back to her guest suite, got into her nightgown, made sure Ole Golly’s hat was packed away so that it wouldn’t scare the servants when they came in with breakfast the next morning, and read herself to sleep.

Carmen and Ole Golly were packed and ready to be asked to leave when a page arrived with a note.

“I thought we were getting bacon and eggs and all that,” Ole Golly grumbled, watching Carmen read the note.

“I thought we’d be lucky to get some nuts and berries as we were shown the door,” Carmen said cheerfully. “But it seems there’s been a change of plans. To the throne room!”

The other girls and their entourages, guests from the previous night’s ball, and the Lord Chamberlain and his staff were there to greet them. When Carmen saw that the king and queen were already seated upon the throne, she flushed. She did love to tweak the rules, but she didn’t believe in being rude if she could help it. Immediately, she rushed forward and bowed before them. The king rose to his feet and addressed the assembled.

“My lord and ladies, forgive this disruption. I know that traditionally in the kingdom, the second day of these pre-nuptial festivities is meant to be devoted to a day of games and picnicking, light sport as you all become acquainted with the Crown Prince.” The king shrugged. “However, he, His Royal Highness Thomas William, informs me that he has already made his decision.”

The crowd bursts into applause. The almost princesses smile and blush, fluffing their hair. Carmen can’t help but feel excited, for none of them have ever seen or met the prince. There are portraits of him throughout the palace, but they depict him as a serene infant or a mischievous child. He is eighteen years old, and has been away at school since he was a boy of ten.

“His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Thomas William of the House of Hiddleston,” the Lord Chamberlain cries. Two glass doors swing inward, letting in light and fresh air from the rose garden outside. A tall figure, lean and long-limbed pauses in the doorway. He wears a cloak, keeping his hood up even as he crosses into the center of the room. Turning to face his parents, his face is obscured even when Carmen turns to look at him.

She smiles. “Oh, but you aren’t…” She looks over her shoulder at the king and queen. “Begging your pardon, but this cannot be the prince.”

The queen smiles, and when she does Carmen feels like she’s been hugged. “Lady Carmen, what makes you say that?”

Carmen gestures at the cloak. “I recognize this garment. This is the bookseller. He has visited the fishing village where I live every Wednesday for the past three years.”

“Oh?” The king sputters. “Thomas, is this true?”

“I don’t know.” The man pushes the hood down, and smiles at Carmen.”Is it?”

Carmen is breathless. So much so that when Prince Thomas reaches for her hand to steady her, she grabs it and doesn’t let go.

She had thought he was shy, the bookseller. Always wearing a cloak, face obscured for his weekly visits. A shy, sweet voice that teased her for reading so many romances. That told her of the palace library, and described the faraway lands she herself had only read about in the books he brought to her. Always accepting way less than the books must have been worth. Promising to always return with more books and more tales.

And that was her secret. The one she kept nearly from herself as she had from everyone else. She had fallen in love with him. A man whose face she didn’t know but whose heart she loved as much as she loved books and her father and the sea. He was the real reason why she could never have married the prince.

Carmen looked at his face. It was a kind face, with twinkly blue eyes that crinkled when he smiled. Sort of gingery hair that curled and popped up every which way. His hand felt large and cool as it held hers. Which was good, as she felt herself start to flush. Tears pricked her eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She whispered. “Why didn’t you say who you were?”

“Because I wanted you to know  _ who _ I was, not what I was,” Thomas said. His eyes dimmed. “The boy who brings you books, not some arsehole faffing about with a crown.”

Carmen wanted to play tough, but when he said “some arsehole faffing about” she had to laugh at him. “But it’s not fair,” she insisted. “You knew who I was.”

Thomas nodded. “It’s true.”

“So what do we do?”

Thomas cupped her face with his hand. “Let me make it up to you?”

Carmen covered her hand with his. “For how long?”

Thomas bit his lip. “The rest of our lives?”

Carmen felt her stomach flip. She nodded, then reached to wrap her arms around his neck so that she could kiss him.


End file.
